


absconde eos personal logs [declassified]

by idontknowhowtoread (heatherpotts)



Series: absconde eos [2]
Category: Asagao Academy: Normal Boots Club, PBG Hardcore
Genre: M/M, also for real dfsgjhds, baby moments..., drowning as a metaphor, gay scientists, im so mad at myself for my formatting choices this took so long to copy back and forth, lil bit of kissing hoo hoo..., please read the first part for the love of god i dont explain shit in this, with a lil bit of sadness as always :pensive:
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-13
Updated: 2019-10-13
Packaged: 2020-12-14 05:56:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21010862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heatherpotts/pseuds/idontknowhowtoread
Summary: as the investigation of the mysterious disappearance of the absconde eos observatory remains ongoing, the personal logs of its former staff offer insight into their daily lives. the value of these logs in terms of the investigation is as of yet indeterminate.





	absconde eos personal logs [declassified]

**Author's Note:**

> oh god oops editing this the day after, have a playlist I love this au a lot fdhgfd
> 
> https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3briDztSkUH1jQ6zuKa5l2?si=SNxK2P7hRVK5K5pdwSegZA

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚜. 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚓. 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎 - 𝟸/𝟹𝟷/𝟷𝟹 𝟶𝟷:𝟸𝟻:𝟶𝟿 

** **

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚜 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚕𝚞𝚕

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚜𝚎𝚌. 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛 𝚛. 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚛 - 𝟹/𝟶𝟸/𝟷𝟹 𝟷𝟶:𝟶𝟸:𝟷𝟻

** **

𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚛𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎. 

** **

𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝, 𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚎, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚕𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚚𝚞𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚎’𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚗 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸’𝚖 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖𝚖𝚖 

** **

𝙸’𝚖 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚌𝚒𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜, 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚎𝚡𝚌𝚒𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚛𝚐𝚢 𝚒𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚌 𝚖𝚊𝚗. 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚢𝚜, 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚊𝚊𝚊𝚊𝚑𝚑𝚑

** **

“What’cha been thinking?”

** **

“Ah- What?” Jeff spluttered, nearly staggering back, prompting a giggle Reese just couldn’t help letting out.

** **

“Hey, just me. What’s on your mind?”

** **

“Uh… What, about… everything?” Jeff asked, eyes narrowing, vaguely gesturing to the space around them. 

** **

“Yep. How you feeling, I guess I should say. Luke asked if you were nervous?”

** **

“Oh, uh... “ Jeff trailed off, finding a single panel on the blank wall on the other side of the room and fixating on it. “... Yeah, I guess I kinda am.”

** **

“That’s okay. Normal, don’t blame ‘ya,” Reese replied, smiling warmly before elbowing Jeff gently in the side. “But really, you’re gonna do great. If you do mess up, not like any of us are gonna snitch on you either.”

** **

Jeff chuckled, tearing his eyes away from the opposite wall after finding that that singular panel offered him nothing. 

** **

“Hope so.”

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚜. 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚓. 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎 - 𝟹/𝟶𝟻/𝟷𝟹 𝟶𝟿:𝟻𝟼:𝟹𝟻

** **

𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚋𝚢 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚛, 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝙺𝚎𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍𝚢, 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚊, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚂𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚢-𝙱𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚢 𝙼𝚌𝚂𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 𝙲𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙼𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝙺𝚎𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝙼𝚌𝚓𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜, 𝚏𝚘𝚛… 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚘𝚗, 𝙸’𝚖 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚋 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝚜𝚘 𝙸’𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚝. 𝙲𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚊 𝚐𝚘𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝙸𝚊𝚗, 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙸’𝚖 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚎, 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚠𝚎𝚎𝚝. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚒𝚖 𝚂𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚢-𝙱𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚢 𝙼𝚌𝚂𝚌𝚛𝚞𝚋𝚋𝚢, 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚢𝚘𝚞.

** **

𝙸𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚊𝚠. *𝚜𝚕𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚜𝚔*

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚜𝚎𝚌. 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚕. 𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 - 𝟻/𝟶𝟼/𝟷𝟹 𝟶𝟽:𝟻𝟻:𝟶𝟷

** **

𝙸 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚐𝚎 𝚛𝚊𝚙 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝙸’𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚊𝚙𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑 𝚖𝚎 

** **

𝙰𝚢𝚘𝚘 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚛’𝚜 𝚍𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 

𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 

𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚊 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚜 

𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒 𝚊𝚖, 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚝, 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 

** **

*𝚛𝚊𝚞𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎*

** **

“I can’t stop thinking about Darla,” Ian called out from the bunk above Mcjones, barely suppressing his laughter enough to speak.

** **

“What about her?”

** **

“Just… the name. It’s so fancy and so stupid for no reason, I love her.”

** **

Mcjones smiled, setting down a stack of papers and laying down fully on his bed.

** **

“I hope she gets along with Miss Kennedy.”

** **

“Oh God, do they fight? That’s so sad.”

** **

“I- Maybe. You’d have to tell me,” Mcjones chuckled, staring at the top of his bunk and just marveling at the fact that they were here at all. Here, it was so easy to forget that they were at work at all, let alone under 50 meters of water.

** **

“We should steal Darla at some point, for something, I dunno’. I miss her.”

** **

“I mean, she’s yours,” Mcjones sighed, stretching against the mattress. “I don’t know how rebellious that would really be, although I guess you never really take her anywhere.”

** **

“True. We should totally steal Miss Subby though.”

** **

“Oh God, absolutely.”

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚜𝚎𝚌. 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛 𝚍. 𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚣𝚊𝚋 - 𝟶𝟸/𝟷𝟺/𝟷𝟻 𝟷𝟶:𝟻𝟼:𝟸𝟹 

** **

𝙼𝙲𝙹𝙾𝙽𝙴𝚂 𝚃𝚁𝙸𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙾 𝙵𝚄𝙲𝙺𝙸𝙽𝙶 𝙺𝙸𝙻𝙻 𝙼𝙴 𝚃𝙾𝙳𝙰𝚈 

** **

@𝙰𝙳𝙼𝙸𝙽 𝙵𝙸𝚁𝙴 𝙷𝙸𝙼

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚑. 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛 𝚜. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 - 𝟶𝟸/𝟷𝟺/𝟷𝟻 𝟷𝟶:𝟻𝟻:𝟶𝟽

** **

𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚏𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚊 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚞𝚛𝚎. 𝙷𝚎 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚗𝚐𝚎, 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚘𝚠… 𝚐𝚘𝚛𝚐𝚎𝚘𝚞𝚜 𝙸 𝚊𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚍𝚞𝚖𝚋 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚂𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚊𝚗 𝚍𝚘𝚞𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚋𝚊𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗. 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚙𝚞𝚜𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚎, 𝚜𝚘 𝚘𝚋𝚟𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚞𝚖𝚊𝚗. 

** **

@𝙰𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚗, 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖.

** **

“_Stewart, _ what the _ fuck!” _ Dean exclaimed through his coughing and _ obviously _ exaggerated gasping. “Are you trying to fucking kill m-”

** **

“You’re so fucking dramatic. You’re fine,” Mcjones replied, pulling himself out of the water, admittedly a bit concerned that Dean was going to try and exact his revenge.

** **

“I breathed in the fucking water, Mcjones, fucking help me! I’m gonna need CPR at this rate, dumbass!” Dean replied, yelling a lot louder than someone who was actually suffocating physically could, flailing in the water in some half assed mockery of someone drowning. And Mcjones didn’t even want to get started on Dean’s tone when he talked about CPR, the implications of that, _ fuck. _

** **

Mcjones grabbed his lab coat off the wall, eager to be out of this suit, and looked back at Miss Kennedy. For some reason he didn’t want to dive into just yet, it was a lot easier to look at her than it was to look at Dean.

** **

“Perish.”

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚜𝚎𝚌. 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛 𝚛. 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚎𝚛 - 𝟸/𝟶𝟻/𝟷𝟺 𝟷𝟼:𝟶𝟺:𝟸𝟼 

** **

𝙼𝚈 𝙷𝚄𝚂𝙱𝙰𝙽𝙳 𝙶𝙾𝚃 𝙰 𝙲𝙰𝚃!! 𝚆𝙸𝚃𝙷𝙾𝚄𝚃 𝙼𝙴!! 𝙷𝙴𝙻𝙻𝙾??? 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝚄𝙲𝙺 

** **

𝙷𝚒𝚜 𝚗𝚊𝚖𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚋𝚊𝚐𝚎𝚕 𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚢𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚆𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙵𝚄𝙲𝙺 𝚆𝙷𝚈 𝙳𝙸𝙳𝙽𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝚃𝙴𝙻𝙻 𝙼𝙴𝙴𝙴𝙴𝙴𝙴

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚜𝚎𝚌. 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚕. 𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 - 𝟹/𝟸𝟷/𝟷𝟻 𝟶𝟺:𝟶𝟾:𝟻𝟽 

** **

𝙽𝚘 𝚛𝚊𝚙 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢 𝚒 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎… 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚑 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚊 𝚛𝚘𝚠 𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚌𝚔. 

** **

𝙸𝚖 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍 𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎𝚍… 𝙺𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚐𝚊𝚜𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚊 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑. 𝙼𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙸’𝚖 𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙. 

** **

𝙸𝚍𝚔 𝚒𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚍

** **

“Mcjones tried to drown me once. Like, three times.”

Luke practically choked on his coffee, leaning up against the wall and glaring at Dean, eyes that really did not match his smile.

** **

“Seriously?”

** **

“Yeah. Weren’t you there for like, two?”

** **

“I don’t remember. He messes with you pretty often, I guess.”

** **

“Guess he does,” Dean sighed, a smirk worming its way onto his face as well. “What I… meant by that, though, was that… I totally get the nightmares you mentioned. Like, even when it's joking, it gets… scary, really fast.”

** **

Luke couldn’t think of anything to say to that, taking another sip of his instant coffee, which was garbage, but it was all they had down here.

** **

“I don’t know if that really helps but… I guess, out of all the fears to have, that's the most reasonable. It’s just… freaky. And painful. And especially… likely, down here, I guess. I don’t think that’s helpful at all but- Yeah. Just trying to say, I get it man. You’re not alone.”

** **

Luke sighed, licking his lips, tasting the remnants of his coffee and something… _ else, _that tasted a lot like last night.

** **

“Thanks, dude.”

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚑. 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛 𝚜. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 - 𝟶𝟹/𝟸𝟾/𝟷𝟻 𝟶𝟸:𝟹𝟺:𝟶𝟿 

** **

𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝟸𝟶 𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚞𝚝𝚎𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔. 𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚞𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚛 𝚋𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐.

** **

𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸’𝚖 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝙸’𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘… 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐’𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍. 𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚘𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚑 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎. 𝚆𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚋𝚘𝚍𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚜, 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚐𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗… 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚏𝚏, 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚠, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒’𝚖 𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚡𝚢𝚐𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐’𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎. 𝚂𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸’𝚖 𝚍𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐’𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍.

** **

𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚍𝚊𝚢. 𝙾𝚛, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙸 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 

** **

𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚛𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚍𝚞𝚖𝚋 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚠𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚍𝚒𝚏𝚏𝚎𝚛𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝙸 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚊𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝙸’𝚖 𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚜 𝙸’𝚖 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚛𝚘𝚘𝚖𝚜 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎’𝚜 𝚊𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸’𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝… 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍. 𝙸’𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚒𝚝 𝚑𝚞𝚛𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍.

** **

𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎, 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚌𝚞𝚕𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚗𝚞𝚖𝚋𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖, 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚝? 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚜𝚌𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚒𝚏𝚒𝚌 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚞𝚗𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚌𝚘𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝… 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙸 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚒 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚒 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚝𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚖 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝟻𝟶 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝟺 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝟷 𝚖𝚊𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔, 𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚠. 𝚂𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚍𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚏𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚊𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚢.

** **

𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒 𝚍𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚘𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚟𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚍𝚘. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚒𝚜 𝚊 𝚙𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚖 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚜. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚎 𝚜𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒 𝚜𝚎𝚎. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚊𝚝.

** **

𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸𝚝𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚙 𝚘𝚞𝚝𝚜𝚒𝚍𝚎 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚔𝚎𝚗𝚗𝚎𝚍𝚢 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 𝙳𝚛𝚘𝚠𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚎𝚊𝚜𝚒𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝. 𝙸𝚏 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚜, @𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝙴𝚕𝚊𝚣𝚊𝚋, 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚍𝚒𝚌𝚔.

** **

𝙸𝚖 𝚜𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚍𝚒𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚌𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙸𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚊𝚞𝚕𝚝 𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏. 

** **

𝙸𝚖 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚏 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚐𝚊𝚒𝚗 𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚏 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚎 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚙𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑.

** **

𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚑. 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛 𝚜. 𝚑𝚊𝚛𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎 - 𝟶𝟹/𝟸𝟾/𝟷𝟻 𝟶𝟸:𝟺𝟹:𝟸𝟹 

** **

𝙸 𝚙𝚊𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚙𝚕𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚌𝚔𝚕𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚑𝚊

** **

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚑 𝚞𝚑. 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚊𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚘 𝚒 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚒 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚍 𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚒𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎 𝚑𝚊𝚍𝚗𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚊 𝚓𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚕𝚋𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚑𝚎 𝚐𝚛𝚊𝚋𝚋𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚌𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚖𝚘𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍.

** **

𝙷𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢, 𝚎𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒𝚖 𝚍𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚌𝚊𝚞𝚜𝚎 𝚒 𝚌𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚝. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚘 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚢, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚖𝚒𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚎𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚛𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚋𝚕𝚞𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚛𝚘𝚖 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚎𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚊𝚕𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚎𝚊𝚌𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚎𝚚𝚞𝚒𝚙𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎’𝚍 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚗𝚝, 𝚠𝚎’𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚊𝚝𝚝𝚎𝚛.

** **

𝙸 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚎𝚢𝚎𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚕𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚒 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚌𝚘𝚝 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚞𝚙 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚎𝚕𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚢 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝… 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.

** **

𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔’𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚛𝚊𝚝 𝚋𝚊𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸’𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚐𝚘 𝚝𝚊𝚔𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝. 

** **

𝙸𝚏 𝚒 𝚍𝚒𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚒 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚒 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚋 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚕 𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚏 𝚒 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚎 𝚒𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚜𝚕𝚎𝚎𝚙 𝚒𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚊𝚛𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞’𝚛𝚎 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚜, @𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚣𝚊𝚋, 𝚒𝚝𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚢𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚏𝚊𝚞𝚕𝚝.

** **

“You here to try and kill me again?”

** **

Mcjones bit the inside of his cheek, eyes falling on Dean, at the edge of where Miss Kennedy was parked with his feet in the water, like it was a swimming pool. It was both infuriating and picturesque, in a way that Mcjones wished he could shove down and drown, but just wouldn’t sink.

** **

He kneeled down next to Dean; not putting his feet in the water, mind you, but finding himself staring at the bobbing of Miss Kennedy and the ripples constantly being sent through the water. 

** **

“If I was, I wouldn’t tell you that.”

** **

“Guess you got me there,” Dean murmured, wrapping his arms around himself like he was cold. Maybe putting his feet in the freezing cold water had something to do with that. “... Love is kinda… A lot like drowning, isn’t it?”

** **

Mcjones didn’t like where this was going. “How so?”

** **

“I don’t know,” Dean shrugged, although it was obvious that he knew, given how he was the one that just brought it up. “Expansive, cold, lonely, all encompassing… Time sensitive… And getting that resolution is kinda like reaching the surface.”

** **

“... Did you hit your head again?”

** **

Dean laughed at that, even harsher than Mcjones was expecting, which frightened him like a bucket of ice water being dumped over him might.

** **

“Nah. Think I might need CPR though.”

** **

Mcjones didn’t think he could help Dean with that. When Dean turned to look at him, smirking and drinking him in with those eyes that were _ dangerous, ambitious, _ facing down a fate that was so much _ bigger _ than himself; Mcjones found himself completely unable to breathe.

** **

In a panic, he practically threw himself onto Dean. 

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚜𝚎𝚌. 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚒. 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚘𝚍 - 𝟶𝟿/𝟷𝟻/𝟷𝟻 𝟶𝟼:𝟶𝟿:𝟷𝟷 

** **

𝚂𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚝 𝚑𝚊𝚕𝚏 𝚊𝚗 𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚛𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚏𝚏 𝚒𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚕𝚘𝚐 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚒𝚣𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚢 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚢𝚙𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚋𝚊𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 

** **

𝙷𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊 𝚜𝚞𝚋.

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚜𝚎𝚌. 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚒. 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚘𝚍 - 𝟶𝟷/𝟶𝟷/𝟷𝟼 𝟶𝟾:𝟺𝟶:𝟸𝟼 

** **

𝙸 𝚝𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚟𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚕𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚎 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚗𝚎𝚠 𝚌𝚊𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚗𝚘 :(

** **

𝚃𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚏𝚊𝚒𝚛, 𝚜𝚑𝚎’𝚍 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚘𝚝𝚎𝚕-𝚑𝚘𝚙𝚙𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚜𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚘 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠𝚜. 𝙸 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 

** **

𝚆𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚖 𝚠𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝚂𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚘𝚞𝚜𝚕𝚢, 𝙻𝚞𝚌𝚊𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚣𝚢 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚘𝚢𝚜. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙹𝚎𝚏𝚏 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙻𝚞𝚔𝚎 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝.

** **

𝙰𝚖 𝙸 𝚜𝚞𝚙𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝? 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚞𝚗𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚝? 𝙸 𝚍𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚘. 𝚃𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚟𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢 𝚋𝚎𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 @𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚗, 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚎’𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚍𝚒𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘𝚘. 𝙸’𝚍 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙼𝚌𝚓𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚘𝚍 𝚝𝚘𝚘, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖 𝚐𝚘 𝚊 𝚕𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚕𝚎 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚣𝚢 𝚝𝚘𝚘. 𝙾𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢’𝚛𝚎 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎. 𝚆𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚙𝚛𝚒𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚎. 

** **

𝙹𝚞𝚜𝚝, 𝚙𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚜; 𝚋𝚎𝚎𝚗 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚕𝚢, 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚒𝚎𝚜. 𝚃𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕.

** **

“My husband got a cat without telling me.”

** **

“Oh my God.”

** **

“It was supposed to be a surprise, and I do love him,” Reese sighed, scrolling through her phone gallery searching for pictures of Bagel. “But I’m still so mad, honestly. He had him for like, three weeks before I was able to come home, and-”

** **

“Okay, yeah, my boyfriend told me he was getting us a kitty, at least,” Ian chuckled, feeling a bit bad, but Reese was kind of hilarious whenever she was upset. Over little things like that, anyway. She was kind of like Dean; a little dramatic, but utterly _ terrifying _when push actually came to shove.

** **

“Yeah. He could’ve… Ugh. But next time we get out of here, I wanna meet yours, though, cause she sounds adorable.”

** **

“She is,” Ian grinned, already hearing the meows he heard in his sleep ringing in his ears yet again. “I bet she’d love you. I wanna meet Bagel too, though.”

** **

“Deal.”

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚜𝚎𝚌. 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚒. 𝚖𝚊𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚘𝚍 - 𝟶𝟻/𝟸𝟶/𝟷𝟽 𝟷𝟸:𝟹𝟶:𝟻𝟷 

** **

𝙴𝚟𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚍𝚊𝚢. 𝙺𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚝, 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝, 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚜𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚗 𝙳𝚊𝚛𝚕𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚊𝚕𝚏𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝚂𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛, 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚑𝚊𝚙𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎, 𝚝𝚘𝚘. 𝙴𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚑𝚎’𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚝𝚘 𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚏𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜, 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐’𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚠𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎’𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚍𝚒𝚎. 𝚃𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚌𝚔 𝚘𝚗 ‘𝚎𝚖, 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚎𝚖𝚎𝚍 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝… 𝚢’𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙸 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚖𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚊𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚊𝚍, 𝙸 𝚋𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚜𝚞𝚋𝚜𝚝𝚒𝚝𝚞𝚝𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚞𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚎 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝’𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚎𝚗𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 :( 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝙳𝚎𝚊𝚗 𝚔𝚎𝚙𝚝 𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚣𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚙𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚘 𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚒𝚏 𝚠𝚎 𝚍𝚘 𝚍𝚒𝚎, 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚘 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊 𝚋𝚊𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝… 𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝙳𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚢. 𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚞𝚜 𝚊𝚕𝚕, 𝚒𝚏 𝚊𝚍𝚖𝚒𝚗 𝚍𝚘𝚎𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕 𝚞𝚜 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚍𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚗 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚓𝚘𝚋. 

** **

𝚃𝚠𝚘 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝙸 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚐𝚘 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎. 𝚈𝚎𝚎𝚑𝚊𝚠. 𝙷𝚘𝚙𝚎 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗.

** **

“Okay; two questions. One, what is up with you and the salinity calibration?” Mcjones asked, pacing back and forth between the walls of the hallway, leaving Jeff feeling rather trapped, up against the window.

** **

“Honestly, no idea. It just wouldn’t behave, I don’t know why. It worked for Luke, but-”

** **

“_Two, _Luke. What is going on with you and Luke?” Mcjones followed up, biting his lip to keep from smiling, so it would seem.

** **

Jeff could practically feel his cheeks go red.

** **

“Uh… Freak accident?”

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚜𝚎𝚌. 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚕. 𝚜𝚒𝚣𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 - 𝟼/𝟸𝟿/𝟷𝟽 𝟶𝟹:𝟷𝟸:𝟷𝟿 

** **

𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒 𝚜𝚊𝚠 𝚊 𝚖𝚎𝚛𝚖𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚛𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚢𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚍𝚊𝚢 

𝚂𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚘𝚠 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢 

𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚒 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚒𝚏 𝚒 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚙𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚗𝚝𝚘 𝚛𝚑𝚢𝚖𝚎 

𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚒𝚍 𝚒 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚐𝚞𝚢 

𝚈𝚞𝚑

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚜. 𝚘𝚏𝚏𝚒𝚌𝚎𝚛 𝚓. 𝚏𝚊𝚋𝚛𝚎 - 𝟽/𝟸𝟻/𝟷𝟽 𝟶𝟷:𝟺𝟻:𝟹𝟷 

** **

𝚄𝚑𝚑𝚑 𝚠𝚘𝚠 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎𝚗’𝚝 𝚞𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚐𝚜 𝚒𝚗 𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛. 𝙸 𝚙𝚛𝚎𝚏𝚎𝚛 𝚠𝚛𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚖𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚙𝚊𝚙𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚊𝚕𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜 𝙸 𝚜𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚕𝚍 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚍𝚒𝚐𝚒𝚝𝚊𝚕 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚘𝚛𝚍 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚛𝚎𝚍𝚒𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚒𝚖𝚙𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚒𝚗 𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚓𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚜 𝚠𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚔𝚎𝚍 𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚘𝚕𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚌𝚎 𝚏𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚍𝚜 𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐.

** **

𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝙻𝚞𝚔𝚎 𝚊 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚐𝚘. 𝙽𝚘𝚝 𝚝𝚘𝚝𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚜𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚑𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜𝚝𝚕𝚢, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙸’𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚍𝚊 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚗’𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚘𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸’𝚍 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚍𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚋𝚢 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚟𝚘𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚘𝚛 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚝𝚛𝚢𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚝𝚊 𝚘𝚛 𝚠𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚠 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚐𝚛𝚎𝚠, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊 𝚌𝚘𝚞𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚊𝚐𝚘 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚏𝚏 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚒𝚜𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚔 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚖𝚎. 

** **

𝚂𝚘𝚘𝚘𝚘… 𝚈𝚎𝚊𝚑. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝙸’𝚖 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚐𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚝𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖. 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚊 𝚗𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚎 𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚊𝚢, 𝚘𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚗𝚢 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚘𝚏 𝚍𝚎𝚌𝚎𝚙𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗, 𝚢’𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠? 𝙻𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚒𝚜 𝚠𝚎𝚒𝚛𝚍 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚑𝚘𝚠. 𝙸𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔𝚜 𝚘𝚞𝚝, 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚑𝚘𝚠.

** **

𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚋𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚢 𝚋𝚘𝚞𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙰𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚢𝚎𝚊𝚛𝚜 𝚘𝚏 𝚌𝚕𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚡𝚒𝚖𝚒𝚝𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚏𝚞𝚕 𝚠𝚘𝚛𝚔 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝟻𝟶 𝚖𝚎𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚞𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝚙𝚎𝚘𝚙𝚕𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛, 𝙸 𝚐𝚞𝚎𝚜𝚜. 𝚆𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚕𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚢 𝚏𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚠𝚎 𝚠𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚊𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚐𝚗𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚊 𝚋𝚘𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝙻𝚞𝚔𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚖, 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚜𝚝𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚏𝚞𝚜𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚗 𝚊𝚗𝚢𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝙸’𝚟𝚎 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚎𝚕𝚝 𝚋𝚎𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚢𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚜𝚎𝚗𝚜𝚎. 

** **

𝙸 𝚍𝚞𝚗𝚗𝚘. 𝙿𝚘𝚒𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚜, 𝙸’𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚎𝚖𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸’𝚖 𝚐𝚎𝚝𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗. 𝚃𝚑𝚎 𝚘𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚗 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚢𝚎𝚝, 𝙸’𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚠𝚊𝚒𝚝 𝚝𝚒𝚕 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚢 𝚗𝚘𝚝𝚒𝚌𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜. 𝙽𝚘𝚠 𝙸’𝚖 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚏 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊 𝚋𝚒𝚐, 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚞𝚊𝚕 𝚘𝚗-𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚠𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙿𝚛𝚘𝚜 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚜 𝚝𝚘 𝚋𝚘𝚝𝚑. 𝙾𝚗𝚎 𝚒𝚗𝚟𝚘𝚕𝚟𝚎𝚜 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚙𝚕𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊 𝚕𝚘𝚝 𝚖𝚘𝚛𝚎 𝚌𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐. 𝙰𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚘𝚘𝚣𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝’𝚜 𝚗𝚘𝚝 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚢 𝚊𝚕𝚕𝚘𝚠𝚎𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙱𝚞𝚝 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎’𝚜 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚜𝚝𝚊𝚛𝚝𝚎𝚍? 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠. 𝙸’𝚕𝚕 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝.

** **

“We should go to the Bahamas for our honeymoon, or something like that.”

** **

“Mhmm?” Jeff mumbled, half pressed into Luke’s chest, holding him close.

** **

“Yeah. I wanna go swimming.”

** **

It took Jeff a solid five seconds to process that, pulling away just far enough to look at Luke while still remaining firmly in his arms.

** **

“... Are you kidding me?”

** **

“... Okay, I meant like, somewhere that’s warm.”

** **

“You’re so dumb,” Jeff chuckled, falling right back in.

** **

“𝚊𝚋𝚜𝚌𝚘𝚗𝚍𝚎 𝚎𝚘𝚜” 𝚘𝚋𝚜𝚎𝚛𝚟𝚊𝚝𝚘𝚛𝚢 - 𝚙𝚎𝚛𝚜𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚕𝚘𝚐 

𝚜𝚎𝚌. 𝚎𝚗𝚐𝚒𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚛 𝚍. 𝚎𝚕𝚊𝚣𝚊𝚋 - 𝟶𝟾/𝟷𝟿/𝟷𝟽 𝟶𝟹:𝟶𝟿:𝟻𝟼 

** **

𝙸 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝙸’𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚙𝚘𝚜𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝙼𝚌𝚓𝚘𝚗𝚎𝚜.

** **

𝙳𝚘𝚗’𝚝 𝚔𝚗𝚘𝚠 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚘𝚛 𝚑𝚘𝚠, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚜𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚝𝚒𝚖𝚎 𝚜𝚘𝚘𝚗, 𝙸’𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊. 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚋𝚎 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚜𝚘 𝚞𝚗𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙸’𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚠𝚒𝚜𝚑 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚜 𝚍𝚛𝚞𝚗𝚔 𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚊𝚢𝚋𝚎 𝙸’𝚕𝚕 𝚝𝚛𝚢 𝚝𝚘 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚑𝚒𝚐𝚑 𝚋𝚢 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚞𝚙 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚏𝚒𝚕𝚝𝚛𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗 𝚜𝚢𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚖𝚜, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚝, 𝙸’𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚍𝚘 𝚒𝚝. 𝙸𝚝’𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚋𝚎 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎’𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚋𝚎 𝚠𝚊𝚝𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚎 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚜 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚋𝚒𝚐 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚢 𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛, 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚔𝚔𝚔𝚔 𝚒𝚝𝚝𝚝𝚝𝚝𝚝 𝚒𝚖 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚐𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚛𝚊𝚣𝚢 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚒 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚗𝚘 𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚏 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚖𝚊𝚔𝚎𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚗 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚎 𝚘𝚛 𝚒𝚏 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚠𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍 𝚞𝚗𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚏𝚘𝚛𝚝𝚊𝚋𝚕𝚎 𝚊𝚜𝚜 𝚠𝚊𝚜𝚑𝚎𝚛 𝚘𝚗 𝚖𝚢 𝚏𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚎𝚛 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎, 𝚒 𝚗𝚎𝚎𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚍𝚘 𝚒𝚝. 𝙸 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚜𝚘 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚝𝚘𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍 𝚝𝚘 𝚏𝚒𝚐𝚞𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚘𝚞𝚝 𝚘𝚗 𝚑𝚒𝚜 𝚘𝚠𝚗. 𝙸 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚘𝚏 𝚖𝚢 𝚕𝚒𝚏𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚑𝚒𝚖, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚖𝚞𝚛𝚍𝚎𝚛𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛𝚢𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚝𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚖𝚢𝚜𝚎𝚕𝚏 𝚒𝚏 𝚑𝚎 𝚜𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚗𝚘, 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚒𝚝. 𝚆𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎𝚟𝚎𝚛. 𝙸 𝚏𝚎𝚎𝚕 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎 𝚖𝚢 𝚌𝚑𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝚒𝚜 𝚐𝚘𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚎𝚡𝚙𝚕𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚒𝚏 𝚒 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝, 𝚑𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍. 𝙷𝚎𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚐𝚘𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚖𝚗 𝚜𝚝𝚞𝚙𝚒𝚍. 𝙸 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚠 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚓𝚘𝚋 𝚒𝚜 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚌𝚘𝚘𝚕 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚜 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚟𝚎 𝚝𝚘 𝚜𝚙𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚊𝚢𝚜 𝚘𝚗 𝚎𝚗𝚍 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎 𝚊𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚏𝚎𝚜𝚜𝚒𝚘𝚗𝚊𝚕 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚋𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚢𝚌𝚕𝚎𝚍 𝚊𝚒𝚛 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚜 𝚔𝚒𝚕𝚕𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚊𝚕𝚕 𝚘𝚞𝚛 𝚋𝚛𝚊𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚎𝚕𝚕𝚜, 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚝𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝 𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔𝚜 𝚒 𝚍𝚘𝚗𝚝 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚊𝚜 𝚖𝚞𝚌𝚑 𝚊𝚜 𝚒 𝚍𝚘. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘.

** **

𝙸𝚏 𝚠𝚎 𝚐𝚎𝚝 𝚖𝚊𝚛𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚍, 𝚒 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚒 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚍𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚍𝚘𝚠𝚗 𝚑𝚎𝚛𝚎. 𝙵𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚙𝚛𝚘𝚝𝚘𝚌𝚘𝚕𝚜. 𝙸 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚠𝚊𝚗𝚗𝚊 𝚑𝚎𝚊𝚛 𝚑𝚒𝚖 𝚜𝚊𝚢 𝚝𝚑𝚊𝚝, 𝚜𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔𝚒𝚗𝚐 𝚋𝚊𝚍𝚕𝚢. 𝙸 𝚍𝚘.

** **

“Uh… You okay?”

** **

Dean didn’t know exactly what response he was expecting. Yes or no, presumably, but in that early moment, it was nigh impossible to rationalize what Mcjones was doing at all.

** **

Just… sitting there, was what he was doing. His back turned to Dean, staring out the window at the sea, lights illuminating only a short distance in front of them before fading into black. 

** **

Dean would come here fairly often, in truth, just to look. Even when there wasn’t much in particular to look at, just water for as far as the eye can see, maybe a couple floating particles, some feeble ray of light from the surface or even some fish when they were lucky; Dean always found it peaceful.

** **

He just never found Mcjones to be the kind of person that appreciated that as well.

** **

Mcjones turned his head to look at Dean, shooting a quick and powerful glance at him before focusing back on the window, communicating without words or even gestures that he wanted Dean to come sit next to him. 

** **

Dean’s concern turned to giddiness when he settled next to Mcjones on the floor, leaving only a few lingering shreds of doubt. Mcjones smiled just a bit wider in Dean’s presence, which filled Dean with a sense of warmth, of being _ welcome, _of peace akin to that of staring out the window itself.

** **

“Didn’t answer my question, but I’m guessing you are?”

** **

“Mhm,” Mcjones replied, giving it no extra thought.

** **

It seemed that Mcjones wasn’t really up for talking in that moment; that was totally fine, Dean could appreciate the silence sometimes, if a bit rare coming from him. And he _ definitely _ appreciated seeing Mcjones in this peaceful state, staring out at the sea with a smile plastered on his face, washed in blue that just painted him _ beautifully. _

** **

Dean just couldn’t help scooting a bit closer, bringing them shoulder to shoulder.

** **

“Where’s everyone else right now?” Mcjones asked, not sounding particularly invested in the question as he kept his focus on the window.

** **

“Uhh, working, I think. Or slacking off, probably that. Just chilling in the comm rooms, last I checked.”

** **

Mcjones hummed in acknowledgement, nodding just barely, more like he was simply having trouble staying awake rather than affirming.

** **

… Maybe he was actually just tired, as after a moment of hesitation, he laid his head on Dean’s shoulder, never once breaking his gaze. It was both agonizing and absolutely beautiful to watch, as Mcjones slowly relaxed into Dean’s presence like honey dripping from a spoon. He breathed out a sigh after resting his head, sinking further into Dean’s touch the longer he laid there. Dean wrapped his arm around him, met by another sigh of contentment. 

** **

Mcjones never did tear his eyes away from the window, but he did begin to close them, which made Dean just want to cry, honestly. The fact that Mcjones was so comfortable in his presence was something simply_ phenomenal _ to him, something he didn’t deserve in the slightest and cherished with all of his being. This very moment was _ phenomenal, _ what felt like some emotional peak, the height of a human’s capacity for love, if that could be somehow given a value and shoved into a chart. This meant more to Dean than any data ever could. 

** **

The phrase kept repeating in Dean’s head, bouncing off the walls of the silent hallways and travelling through all those tons of water up to the surface, he was sure. It was something he had said before, in both joking and almost cripplingly genuine contexts, and it was nothing extraordinary at this point, but still, he wanted to say it _ so badly. _

** **

He wanted to tell Mcjones that he loved him, but_ come on, _he was almost asleep at this point. He just had to opt for letting Mcjones relax, being there for him as he rested his eyes and played with Dean’s fingers. 

** **

“... What’s this?” Mcjones asked, sleepy and barely coherent, spinning the washer on Dean’s ring finger.

** **

“Uh… A washer.”

** **

“Wow,” Mcjones replied, a lopsided smirk growing on his face that suddenly sent Dean’s heart racing in his chest. Which wasn’t particularly helpful, given how he was supposed to be quiet, and with how close Mcjones was, he_ had _to have been able to feel it. “Why’re you wearing one?”

** **

Dean shrugged, only with the shoulder Mcjones wasn’t laying on, which probably didn’t express his response properly in the slightest. Dean had to have been getting sleepy and not thinking clearly as well, as instead of replying, he found Mcjones’ hand and slid the washer off his own ring finger, onto Mcjones’. All, somehow, without even thinking of the implications.

** **

“You’re supposed to ask me if I’ll marry you and wait for me to say yes before you actually give me the ring, I’m pretty sure,” Mcjones chuckled, a tone to his voice that Dean had felt cruelly deprived of now that he had it, carefree and too sleepy to be anything other than 100% genuine.

** **

“Oh. My bad. Will you marry me, then?”

** **

“Gladly,” Mcjones replied, pressing a quick kiss to Dean’s cheek and giggling softly, lighter than sea spray and warmer than the sun, and Dean felt that, _ knew that, _if he died here, he’d be happy.

** **

When the observatory flooded, it happened quiet. There were no sirens, no alarm bells, no robotic voices ordering them to their subs, not even the sound of anything breaking or water rushing in _ anywhere. _ The window remained intact, their moment was never _ ruined, _and it was almost kind, how quiet it was. Dean only knew it was quiet in retrospect, of course; he had no idea.

** **

Die happy, he did, he figured.


End file.
